


You Were Holding My Hand

by Adventures_in_Writing



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe, Grimmons, Hospital, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 23:37:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5069266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adventures_in_Writing/pseuds/Adventures_in_Writing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first thing he noticed when he woke was that he felt stiff, like he hadn’t moved from this spot in months. The second thing he noticed was that a warm body was suddenly pressed up against him, pulling him into a tight hug.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Were Holding My Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt received on [ my Tumblr](http://an-adventure-in-writing.tumblr.com/): person A was injured and in hospital for a long time but when they wake up and are told exactly what their injuries are, nothing explains the bruises on his hand. until eventually "oh yeah that was person B, they never left your side the whole time you were unconcious. they must have been squeezing your hand for days" but B hasn't even visited? So when they are released from hospital, they find B and demand to know why he was only there for him when he wasn't awake.
> 
> Warnings: Mentions of hospitals, a car accident and comas. I don’t go into super great details, but if those things bother you, I’d skip this.

* * *

The last thing he remembered was the roar of a quickly approaching vehicle before an instant of intense, explosive pain and then darkness.

The first thing he noticed when he woke was that he felt stiff, like he hadn’t moved from this spot in months. The second thing he noticed was that a warm body was suddenly pressed up against him, pulling him into a tight hug. Even in his semi-confused state, he could tell whom it was that was hugging him fiercely. He brought a hand up to stroke soft, wavy dark hair and felt a steadily growing patch of dampness on his shoulder.

“Kai…”

“You big idiot!” She sobbed. “I thought you’d died!”

“Nah…just taking a nap.”

Eventually Kai pulled back, wiping the tears away from her cheeks and eyes, giving Grif the brightest smile he’d ever seen.

“Longest nap ever,” she managed to laugh.

“Where am I? What happened?”

“I have to tell the nurse that you’re awake, but as soon as they’ve finished giving you a check up, I’ll explain everything.”

Dexter Grif hated hospitals. They smelled of antiseptic all the time and they looked so bleak and dismal and the food always sucked. He hated getting poked and prodded by doctors and nurses alike and if he had to look into another flashlight and answer questions about what his name was and his age and who the girl sitting beside him was, he was going to flip a table. Kai gave him a smile as the nurse jotted down some points on a clip board before hanging it on the end of the bed. She checked Grif’s IV and looked at the clock before turning to the siblings.

“I’ll be back in half an hour to change your IV. You don’t need to be awake for it, so if you’re feeling tired, you should get some rest.”

“Thank you,” Kai said, giving Grif a nudge. His patience had worn thin, but he still offered the nurse a small smile as best he could.

Once the nurse had left the room, Grif turned to his sister. “ _Now_ can you tell me what happened?”

He’d managed to glean half of the story from the doctors and nurses who came to visit. Something about a head trauma and grievous bodily injuries. They’d been concerned about memory loss, but it appeared as though Grif’s memory was fine, which was an excellent sign.

“You were hit by a car and it was really bad, big bro. It was an accident. The brakes failed on the car that hit you when it crossed an oil slick on the road. You’ve been in a coma for a month. You had to have a bunch of crazy operations and we were all really worried about you…”

“I’m sorry I made you worry…”

“I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Grif peered at his hands closely, noting small circular bruises that looked like fingertips on them. He held a hand out to Kai to look at. She didn’t even need to look at Grif’s hands to know. Most of the bruising and swelling had disappeared by now and all that was left were a number of scars that would serve as reminders for the rest of his life and a cast on his arm that could be taken off in a couple of weeks.

“What are these then?”

“Oh, that was Simmons. He never left your side the whole time you were unconscious. He must have been squeezing your hand for days to leave a bruise though!”

Something swelled in Grif’s chest and he wondered if maybe the doctor’s had missed something in their checkup earlier.

*****

Once Kai had sent out word that Grif was awake, he had constant visitors. A number of his favourite teachers from college visited with coursework that he had missed whilst in hospital. They reassured him that he could either retake the course without having to pay fees again, or if he felt up to it, he could try to review the course work and take the exam. His Sister’s friends dropped by too and he’d only met them once or twice. His own friends visited him every day, someone dropping by as soon as visiting hours and someone staying back until they ended. Whilst he enjoyed the conversations with Tucker and appreciated Sarge and Lopez trying to help him with some of the college work he was having trouble understanding, there was someone missing. Donut brought fresh bouquets of flowers every day and Doc secretly brought him treats that he wouldn’t be able to get in the hospital. Hell, even Church and Caboose stopped by sometimes to see how Grif was doing and wondering if he’d be back in the dorms any time soon.

The one who was missing was Simmons.

From what Kai had said, Simmons had been visiting every day whilst Grif was unconscious, so where was he now?

The doctor’s kept Grif under their careful watch for another week after he had awoken just in case complications arose now that he was conscious. After the final checks and tests, Grif was given the all-clear and was allowed to head home with strict orders to take it easy and not over exert himself until his next doctor’s appointment in a week.

Simmons hadn’t stopped by to visit once.

*****

Considering that he and Simmons shared a dorm room, Grif was surprised to find that Simmons wasn’t in when he and Kai finally made it there. With an ‘oof!’ Kai dropped Grif’s bag onto the floor and rubbed at her shoulder; the amount of stuff that people had brought in to occupy Grif and the weight of the books he’d been given for school had been heavy!

“Okay, so I know Blue dorm is a little bit away, but if you need me for anything, call me! Donut and Sarge have said that you should have their numbers anyway, so if it’s urgent, please let someone know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Grif said with a wave of his hand, distracted. “Hey, Kai. Where’s Simmons?”

“Huh? I dunno. Probably the library or something? You know what he’s like. Oh yeah, we made sure to stock the fridge and the pantry for you, so you shouldn’t need to go shopping for a couple of days at least.”

“You didn’t just buy me ramen, did you?”

“Well, we wanted to, cos ramen is cheap, but we know what you’re like.”

Although Grif loved snack foods (like Oreo’s and cheese puffs) he immensely enjoyed cooking. Meal time was one of his favourite times of the day and he’d always try to make something both delicious and nutritious. Sure, he’d have a cheap packet of ramen on the occasions where the budget was too tight, but Grif did try to make sure he ate somewhat decently. He’d have to be extra careful in the weeks for his full recovery, but once he was back to normal he was going to ask Donut to make the biggest chocolate caramel fudge marshmallow-whip cake he possibly could.

“Thanks, Kai.”

“Anything for you!” she said with a hug. “I’d better get back. You shouldn’t have too many visitors today. I’ve told the Blues that you’re gonna want a day to just chill out and settle back home again and Donut has made sure that no-one in Red dorm will bother you either. Just relax and take it easy.”

Kai closed the door to Grif and Simmons’ room behind her and Grif took a look around the room. It was spotless. Everything was neatly arranged and there wasn’t a speck of dust to be seen anywhere. Even Grif’s side of the room had been cleaned and tidied, though Grif noted that nothing had been really moved. The clothes he usually had strewn about the place had assumedly been washed and folded neatly and rested on the end of his bed. The dishes that usually littered the desk had been washed and put away and his bed, usually a nest of sheets and blankets was neatly made. He knew without asking that it had been Simmons’ doing. For some reason, the sight of the tidy room made him angry and Grif wanted nothing more than to see Simmons right now and ask what the hell this was all about.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the notifications. A couple of Facebook status updates, a phone update that he’d been refusing to download and still nothing from Simmons. Hoping to God that he’d be able to make it up the flight of stairs, Grif made his way to the one spot that he was sincerely hoping that Simmons’ would be.

*****

Simmons had his phone in his hand for the eighth time that day. He really should send a text or _something_ to Grif. He couldn’t bring himself to visit his best friend once Kai had said he’d awoken, but now that Grif was home there’d be no avoiding it.  Surely Grif knew by now. Kai was hopeless at keeping secrets sometimes and Simmons’ wasn’t sure if he wanted to deal with that just yet.

He sighed, leaning against the rail on the rooftop. He just needed a little bit more time to sort things out in his head: it had happened far too soon for him to decide on whether or not he wanted to tell Grif. The sound of the door scraping against the concrete startled him, and Simmons turned around quickly, his heart pounding in his chest from both fright and nervousness.

“Hey,” came a voice that he had been afraid of never hearing again.

“H-hi,” Simmons replied, his voice cracking a little.

“I’m home.”

“Kai mentioned it…”

There was a pause and Simmons could tell that Grif was waiting for him to continue. The silence dragged on.

“Why didn’t you come visit me?”

“I did!” Simmons protested immediately.

“When I was awake, I mean.”

Simmons swallowed with nervousness. “Well, everyone else was visiting all the time, so you wouldn’t be bored and I mean, you were injured pretty bad, so you needed as much rest as possible. I didn’t think you’d need another person interrupting your nap time. I know how much you like them, so I thought I’d just wait until you were out to see you.”

Simmons knew the excuse was a poor one, and judging from the slight frown on Grif’s face, he knew it too. Grif made his way over to Simmons and leaned against the railing.

“You were with me every day I was asleep though.”

“Well, it was quiet and I could study and I mean, everyone did stop by to see how you were doing but, unconscious people are kinda boring to talk to.”

Grif held up his hands. “You know you left bruises, right? Kai said you were holding my hand the whole time.”

Simmons’ cheeks turned red from embarrassment and he turned away slightly.

“And I found myself thinking, I wonder what it felt like,” Grif continued.

“What?”

“I was unconscious. I wasn’t able to feel you holding my hand. I couldn’t feel the warmth of your hands on mine, or how tightly you were holding them as I lay there. When Kai told me that you were there every day, I was hoping I’d get to see you. I was hoping that, maybe out of all our asshole friends, that you might have been the first one I saw. But you weren’t. I didn’t see you at all and that kinda hurt, you know?”

“Grif…I…”

“So make it up to me.”

Simmons hadn’t meant to hurt Grif’s feelings. He had so many things to figure out that it had been too much too soon. Grif’s accident had opened the floodgates to feelings that Simmons had put under lock and key for years. It’s funny what can happen when you think someone you care about won’t be around any more. Kai’s text telling him that Grif had finally woken up was the best day he’d had but it also filled him with dread. Grif would know. Grif would find out that he’d been holding his hand the whole time, that he had cried for days and nights on end, whispering prayers to Gods he didn’t believe in to save the one thing he cared about most in the world. Grif would find out that Simmons had feelings for him and it was downright terrifying.

He had even whispered I love you and the knowledge made his face burn with embarrassment.

“…How?”

Grif held out his hand. “Hold my hand and be the first person I see when I wake up from now on.”

His hand trembled as he reached out and took Grif’s hand in his own. His breath caught in his throat and tears prickled at his eyes as, unlike all the other times where Grif’s hand rested lifelessly in his, Grif’s fingers gently squeezed back.

“I won’t ever let go again.”


End file.
